We caught up with local singer songwriter, Belle Kumble Rose, ahead of the release of her latest single, NV, produced by the man behind some of Kylie and S Club 7’s tracks
Birmingham youngster Belle Kumble Rose isn’t your average teen. Her new single NV was released last month to much acclaim, not least for its uplifting message of kindness, hope and strength through adversity. Produced by Mike Rose who’s worked with Gary Barlow, and East 17 as well as Belle’s own mum, Lolly, who readers might remember from the Eighties.
Belle says she’s constantly writing and is generally inspired by past experiences as well as more trivial things like TV shows. She already has an impressive body of work despite being just 17-years-old. Not many teenagers are juggling sixth form studies with a career in music and a ‘bit of modelling’ while touring schools in order to inspire other young people.
In 2022, Belle completed a tour of more than 40 schools in the Midlands and the South West. As well as performing to audiences aged from nine to 13 years, Belle answered questions about mental health, online safety and cyberbullying drawing on her own experiences.
MENTAL HEALTH
Last summer she took to the road again to perform an end-of-school-year tour with an audience of more than 4,000 school children in the Midlands. Of her own struggles, Belle says: “I’ve learnt so much about my mental health. There were times when I didn’t feel heard, so it’s nice to be able to talk to school children about that. Hopefully they don’t feel alone.”
Over the last few years, Belle has made the choice to use her creative skills to express empathy through her music striving to be the new voice of her generation in waiting. Her lyrics reflect the emotional highs and lows of her generation and she wants to represent the kids who have no voice, who can’t or don’t speak out.
Belle has grown up with social media and has a love-hate relationship with it as most teenagers do. She says: “I love it but it’s also hard. I’m still trying to figure it out. I just post what’s authentic to me. There’s lots of negativity on social media. If I get hate comments, I have to think, ‘at least they’re talking about me.”
LIVE GIGS
Having grown up in a musical family, Belle is a confident performer who relishes lives gigs. She has a couple of festivals lined up over the summer including Reading Pride as well as Rainford Festival, plus a spot on CBBC and a few other TV things in the pipeline. While Belle’s always had a passion for singing inspired largely by her musical heroes such as Alanis Morrisette, Paramour and Olivia Rodrigo, the writing bug is more recent.
She says: “Something switched in my brain in lockdown. I started writing poetry and writing about my feelings. I became more active on Instagram and things started to happen.”
FOLLOW ON:
You can catch Belle on social media and download her work on her YouTube channel.
Linktree – https://linktr.ee/bellekumblerose
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/bellekumblerose
TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@bellekumblerose?lang=en
YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/@bellekumblerose